SUN CITY, S.C. (WJCL)-Sun City is finally living up to its name- at least according to homeowner Joan Morris.

Morris became an official owner of a solar-powered home Wednesday morning when Palmetto Electric workers came out to her Sun City home and turned on her new system.

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"I just thought it was an excellent idea to be able to produce your own power," said Morris. "It saves the planet, it saves on greenhouse gases, it saves me a lot of money"

Morris tells WJCL News she moved into Sun City about six years ago, and she's been interested in getting her panels installed ever since. She's now one of just 8 homes in the community touting solar panels, and she said it wasn't easy to be a pioneer at first.

"They were only allowed on the back and it couldn't be seen from the lagoon and if people across the lagoon could see it you couldn't do it and if it could be seen from the golf course you couldn't do it," said Morris.

Recently those rules relaxed and now she's the proud owner of 19 solar panels along the side and backside of her single-story home. Morris says it will save her money in the long-run and the panels will likely outlive her.

"I pay like 900 or just under 1,000 dollars a year for electricity and when this is all said and done I'll be paying like 300."

Chris Donelson with Hilton Head Solar says the cost of the panels depends on the size of your home and shape of your roof, but people are slowly showing interest in the energy trend.

"I call it the slow country for a reason, people are just now figuring it out," said Donelson.

He says he spent the past few months of business educating homeowners and getting permission to install panels in various communities.

"Here we are in Sun City and they're figuring it out," said Donelson. "It's finally approved here in South Carolina. The incentives are out of this world. We got 30 percent from federal and 25 percent from state and if you are a LLC there's more."

Those tax benefits are another reason homeowners like Morris decided to take the risk, saying her financial advisor called it a "no brainer." After all, she says, the sun is free.

Hilton Head Solar encourages any interested homeowners to call them at ( 843) 263-8011 and provide their most recent energy bills.